Harrisburg, Pa., May Miss Debt Payment

Thursday is the deadline for Harrisburg, Pa., to make a debt payment tied to a trash incinerator, and city officials aren’t optimistic.

According to Dow Jones Newswires, City Controller Daniel C. Miller said Wednesday it’s “very likely” that the city will miss the $637,500 payment to Covanta Holdings, which was hired to run the incinerator. The city is reportedly trying to work out a loan-payment deal with Covanta.

The incinerator debt, as we’ve reported, threatens to send the city into Chapter 9 bankruptcy. The city is facing a $164 million budget gap over the next five years, much of it due to the trash incinerator. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s capital city, guaranteed $288 million of the incinerator’s debt.